5 ms·
As far as I'm concerned, the optimal size of the economy is when everyone can have everything they want. Until then, there's work to do.
by FeepingCreature 5y ago
As far as I'm concerned, the optimal size of the economy is when everyone can have everything they want.
Until then, there's work to do.
- ekelsen 5y agoNo matter how big the economy gets not everyone can have the best real estate. There will be always be locations that are preferable to others and no amount of growth will change this.
- FeepingCreature 5y agoI suspect this will be fulfilled by improved transportation.
- ekelsen 5y agoImproved transportation won't get you the choicest pieces of real estate because you still won't be allowed there. It will make the public places even more crowded perhaps. Some of what expensive real estate buys you is the _lack_ of other people.
- FeepingCreature 5y agoIf you're out in the boonies, you can have lack of other people for miles. What you won't have is easy access to the nearest city. Transportation solves that.
- ekelsen 5y agoYou also won't have a nice coastline view. Money buys lack of other people in locations where lots of other people want to be.
- danparsonson 5y agoBut the point is that increasing it does not improve life for everyone, only those at the top. The idea of "trickle down" economics is a (frankly laughable) fallacy.
- FeepingCreature 5y agoRight, but isn't that the problem then, not "growth" per se? If fulfilling the interests of the rich needs growth, surely fulfilling the interests of everyone will need even more growth.
- danparsonson 5y agoWell no, because the interests of the rich are never fulfilled, they just scale accordingly. Capitalism isn't a collaboration, it's a competition.
- FeepingCreature 5y agoI don't think our economic growth is driven by yachts and mansions.
- danparsonson 5y agoNo it's driven by the desire for yachts and mansions - otherwise why the need for infinite growth? Nobody needs billions or even millions of dollars to live a good life.
- FeepingCreature 5y agoIf desire for yachts and mansions is what drives people to create value for the rest of us, isn't this the system working exactly as intended?
- danparsonson 5y ago
- zelos 5y agoIsn't it a truism in economics that needs are finite, wants infinite?
- FeepingCreature 5y agoI'm not convinced it's actually true.
- lcam84 5y agoIf you want to explore this you can watch "the century of self" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04
- Synaesthesia 5y agoFor some reason people want more wealth than anyone could possinly hope to enjoy or need. Talking about multi billionaires.
- apersonprobably 5y agoIsn't this just hedonism?
- FeepingCreature 5y agoWell, it's preference utilitarianism.
- kennethh 5y agoPeople always want more. They want a nice car than their neighbours, nicer phone, better clothes. We are way beyond what you need to survive, everything else is about comfort, security and status. And why is these things so important? Mate selection is based on status (among other things). It is also typical of a famous writer and a very high status person not to see that others would want/have to compete for status in other areas. Not that she is wrong, but the world is a complex place than one can imagine.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- lcam84 5y agoThere is a difference between wants and needs. You have a giant industry trying to change your wants, making sure you are not satisfied with what you have.